A Captain's Advice
Chapter 5
AN: Set is Camelot, Killian and Henry starting and discussing Operation Light Swan. Hope you enjoy! I think there might only be one chapter after this. More if you wish, let me know what you think!
It started in Granny's.
Emma, her parents and Regina were in Camelot castle with King Arthur, working on a way to rid Emma of her darkness.
Even though Killian felt he knew most about the Dark One than the majority of the others, the heroes insisted he take a break today.
Well Regina's exact words were,
"If you don't leave this minute pirate I will send one of my fireballs at your head."
So that's how he ended up back at the familiar café which had been relocated to the centre of a Camelot forest searching for anyway he could give a helping hand (and hook) to keep his mind off his love becoming the thing he despised most.
However his attempts of helping Granny clean up the diner were short lived,
"There's no point Killian, my diner is spotless and I've done nothing but clean ever since we arrived here."
Killian sighed, returned the dish cloth to its original place and sat on a counter stool.
Granny offered a small, pitying smile at the dejected man in her empty diner whose shoulders were slumped and jaw set as his blue eyes glared into pure nothingness.
Frowning, she searched the diner in search of something to distract the poor man who was helpless to help the woman he loved become herself again.
She came across a stack of recent newspapers in the back room, the elderly woman debated over whether or not to give the one handed hero them, he and his friends were a large focus of the newspaper's gossip anyway. Deciding this was all she had, Granny strolled back into her silent diner and loudly dropped the stack of newspaper onto the counter in front of him.
The good-looking former pirate furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Entertain your pretty eyes with something other than staring aimlessly at these four walls." Granny said sternly but smiled softly at him.
Killian paused for a second before nodding and murmuring a sincere "Thank you".
The grey haired woman pushed up her glasses and hurried herself into the back room, muttering to herself about what to cook for the heroes who better be coming back to her diner to eat and not be eating any lavish foods presented to them by the King and Queen.
Killian dug his good hand through his dark hair and began to flick through the stained, torn pages of the small town's only newspaper.
At first the over-exaggerated stories of Emma and the heroes' latest adventures irritated him but as time wore on and as he read through most of the large stack of papers, Killian realised his attention was continuously being brought back to one particular section of the newspaper.
The two pages, near the end of the newspaper that were always dedicated to available housing in the Storybrooke area.
At first Killian was surprised at the amount of available housing in the quaint town.
He was familiar with the story of how Regina created Storybrooke so he couldn't help wonder why there were so many homes and apartments available for buy and rent.
Truthfully Killian had always assumed he would never settle down in a house, ever since he and his brother sailed the Jewel of the Realm together, Killian knew he was destined to live his life and grow old on the ocean waves. With Milah, those dreams were only confirmed as she seemed even more passionate about living a life on the sea than he was.
Then he fell in love with Emma Swan and suddenly his ideas of what he wanted in his future changed.
Each paper had the same houses and apartments in each edition, Killian frowned as he squinted his eyes, reading the descriptions and fine prints of each advertisement.
He understood most words yet was lost in confusion at other modern descriptions.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he never heard the chime of the bell above the front door, or the squeak of the chair as someone sat next to him.
"Whatcha reading?"
Jumping out of his skin, Killian turned to his right to see a certain black haired teenager smirking back at him.
"Henry! Hi, er not much just some papers Granny gave me to keep me out of her way."
Attempting to shove the pages out of sight Killian offered the boy a large grin to which Henry returned with a knowing smile and raised eyebrow.
"Moving on from the Jolly Rodger?"
Killian scoffed, "Never lad! Just…discovering my options, should I wish to settle down on land one day."
Henry's eyes lit up, "With my mom?"
Killian's eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth twice before stuttering out a reply, "Well…I mean-"
The older man caught the sudden glaze of worry in the teenager's eyes so he hurried to retrieve himself and find the appropriate answer,
"I would hope so, yes lad. One day."
Henry frowned in pure confusion, "Why not sooner?"
Killian laughed, "I'm not sure we're quite ready for that yet lad."
"You are though."
Intuitive and up front. Just like his mothers.
"That's not exactly how it works Henry."
"But she loves you."
Killian couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face, "I know that, and I love her but-"
"But what?"
Killian looked away for a moment. The boy had a point.
If Merlin got rid of Emma's darkness and they all got home safely then what would be the point in waiting?
True they hadn't been together very long but with all the danger and havoc that occurs in their life what harm could there be in asking?
He knows she loves him, knows he succeeded in bringing her walls down and earning her trust but that's all because he waited and was patient with her (well as patient as could be).
The last thing he wants to do is ruin that by rushing things and asking her to move in.
Henry, sensing the pirate's hesitance continues with his argument,
"Mom's always saying how she needs her own place and I doubt you want to continue living on the Jolly Rodger forever."
Killian waited a few moments before replying,
"Do you think it would help?"
"What do you mean?"
"If I asked her now, well not right now but soon, here in Camelot. Give her…" He looked down at the pictures of different houses and apartments again, "Give her something to look forward to when we all get home."
Henry smiled and nodded, "Definitely."
"I don't want to cause her to fall deeper into the darkness lad."
"This won't! This will give her a reason to fight it! I swear! Trust me, I'm her son, I'm the author. I know what I'm talking about."
Killian smirks, "This wouldn't have anything to do with you being tired of living with a newborn would it?"
Henry's persuasive expression faltered, "N-No."
Killian raised an eyebrow,
Henry sighed "Well maybe a little."
Killian grinned and went back to flicking through the papers with his hook, instead this time purposely only looking at the housing advertisements.
Henry hesitates before asking, "So…would that mean I would live with you too?"
Killian turned to him and frowned, "What do you mean? Of course you would. That's not even a question."
Henry's eyes lit up with hope, "Really?"
"Well…I'd assume you'd still live with your other mother a good few days of the week but yes I'd hope you'd want to live with Emma and I too…should we ever move in together."
Henry's delighted smile widened, "Thought about it a lot have you?"
Killian rolled his eyes, "I'll think about it."
And he did. For the next few days when the heroes were researching books and potions he and Henry sat in Granny's looking through the different newspapers. Some days focusing on the idea of Hook and Emma moving in together other days discussing completely different topics such as the lovely young brunette Henry had his eye on.
On the fourth day Killian decided to ask Emma to move in with him when the time was right.
Henry could do little to hide his excitement but Killian insisted he promise not to tell Emma, or anyone else of their plan.
"Yeah, yeah of course! I won't tell anyone!" Henry promised excitedly
"Okay, good." Killian smiled back.
Silently they scanned through the advertisements once more before Henry interrupted the comfortable silence,
"Killian?"
"Yes lad?"
"Seeing as this is our project and especially since this is a secret, can we give it a codename?"
Killian looked up at the boy through his lashes and nodded, "Sure lad, what animal would you like to name it after?"
Henry frowned and thought for a moment before smiling brightly, "Swan? Operation Swan?"
Killian leaned back in his chair and thought about it, "Good, but how about…operation light swan?"
Henry grinned from ear to ear and nodded enthusiastically, "Operation Light Swan. Perfect."
Two days later Killian was walking past Henry on his way out of Granny's and dropped a folded newspaper onto the table in front of him.
The curious boy looked down and saw a faded black and white picture of a large house that had been circled with red pen.
Underneath the picture, on top of the small detailed description were the words 'The one?' in Killian's handwriting.
The teenager turned to see Killian Jones waiting anxiously by the front door, fidgeting with his long pirate trench-coat's sleeves and without saying anything he nodded all the confirmation the older man needed to grin widely and walk out the door.
AN: And that's another chapter completed! Thanks to everyone who review it means so much!
Please review and let me know what you think and whether I should write one more chapter or a few more.
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- xTeam Mockingjayx